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This is a tricky tradeoff. Making products disposable can also allow different manufacturing choices that lead to less material being used up front or a more ro
by stephencanon 7y ago
This is a tricky tradeoff. Making products disposable can also allow different manufacturing choices that lead to less material being used up front or a more robust structure for the same material cost resulting in a lower failure rate, or lighter products and hence reduced impact from shipping. If the failure rate is low enough, those factors can beat out repairability and result in a product with lower environmental costs and resource usage on net.
This is a rare situation, but for small items with low failure rates and usable lifetimes of at least a few years, it can definitely happen.
- markstos 7y agoUh, they just released $250 disposable ear buds. They replaced a trackpad that replaceable batteries that worked fine with a new model that has a non-replaceable battery. Apple seems particularly responsible for driving the demand for "truly wireless" ear buds as a status symbol.
- papln 7y agoAA batteries are just as (non-)recycleable.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoMine are rechargeable.
- junipertea 7y agoAfter they lose too much capacity you will have to replace them. However it's still better to replace only the battery instead of the whole device.